Chapter 8 - Kuntī’s Eulogy of Kṛṣṇa and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Repentance

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Sūta said:^[1]

1. Then, they (Pāṇḍavas) along with Kṛṣṇa and with women (going) in front, proceeded to the Ganges for offering libations of water to their dead kinsmen who desired (such) water.

2. Having offered the libations and bewailing bitterly again, all of them bathed in the waters of the river sanctified by the dust of the lotus-like feet of Hari.

3-4. Explaining the irresistibility of the (effects of) Time (or Death) on living beings, Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa) along with sages consoled the Lord of Kurus (Yudhiṣṭhira and his younger brothers, Dhṛtarāṣṭra^[2], Gāndhārī^[3] aggrieved at the loss of her sons, Pṛthā (Kuntī)^[4] and Draupadī, who sat there bereaved of their relatives (and hence) given to sorrow;

5-6. Having made Yudhiṣṭhira^[5] regain his kingdom cheated away from him by rogues, and having got killed the wicked whose life was cut short due to touching the hair of the queen (Draupadī) and having enabled (Yudhiṣṭhira) to perform thrice the horse-sacrifice with the best method^[6], he (Kṛṣṇa) caused his Yudhiṣṭhira’s) fame spread in all directions like that of god Indra (the Performer of hundred Sacrifices).

7-8. Oh Brāhmaṇa! And having taken leave of Pāṇḍavas and having exchanged mutual worship with Brāhmaṇas like Dvaipāyana (Vyāsa), Kṛṣṇa, accompanied by Sātyaki and Uddhava got into chariot with the intention of going to Dvārakā when he saw Uttarā^[7] running towards him stricken with panick.

Uttarā said:

9. “Protect me, Oh great Yogin, save me, Oh God of gods, Protector of the world. As people are victims of death^[8] I do not see safe shelter with any one else but with you.

10. Oh all-pervading Lord! An arrow with a red-hot iron tip rushes towards me. Oh Lord! Let it burn me at will but let not the embryo (in my womb) be fallen.”

Sūta said:

11. Having heard her speech, the Lord who loves his devotees, knew that it was the missile of Aśvatthāman discharged to extirpate the race of Pāṇḍavas.

12. Oh great sage, then at that very time, Pāṇḍavas, having noticed five blazing arrows rushing towards them, resorted to their missiles.

13. Having seen the disaster of Pāṇḍavas who were absolutely devoted to him, the mighty Lord ordained their safety by his missile called Sudarśana.

14. Hari, the Lord of yoga, who is the Soul residing within all beings, covered the embryo (in the womb) of the princess of Virāṭa (Uttarā) by (his power called) Māyā (Illusion) for the continuation of the Kuru race.

15. Oh descendant of the Bhṛgu clan (Śaunaka)! Even though the missile called Brahmaśiras is irresistible and uncounteractable, it became quiescent when it came into contact with the lustre of Viṣṇu.

16. Do not regard this as a miracle, for Acyuta who though unborn, creates, protects and destroys the world by his refulgent (power) Māyā, is miraculous in every way.

17. The virtuous Pṛthā (Kuntī) in the company of Draupadī, and her sons who were saved from the flames of the missile Brahma-Śiras addressed thus to Kṛṣṇa who was about to start.

Kuntī said:

18. I bow to you the First (=the cause of world) Man, the Lord (of the universe), beyond Prakṛti, imperceptible yet pervading all beings from within and without.

19. (I am) ignorant (and hence can simply bow down to) you who are concealed behind the screen of Māyā (Illusion), beyond the ken of sense-perception and immutable. You cannot be realised by the false perception of ignorant person just as an actor in his role in the drama is not recognized by an ignorant spectator.

20.^[9] You cannot be perceived by pure-hearted sages of the highest order. How can we, women, know you in order to follow the path of devotion unto you?

21. Again and again I bow to Kṛṣṇa Vāsudeva, the joy (son) ofDevakī, the young child of the Cowherd Nanda, Govinda.^[10]

22. Bow to him from whose naval sprouts up the Lotus; salute to the wearer of lotus-garland; respects to the lotuseyed god; bow to him whose feet are like lotus.

23. Oh Hṛśīkeśa!^[11] Just as (your) sorrow-stricken (mother) Devakī who was incarcerated for a very long time by Kaṃsa,^[12] was released by you, so also I along with my sons, was often saved in a number of difficulties by you alone as my protector.

24. Oh Hari, we have been completely protected by you from poison,^[13] from the great fire,^[14] from the sight of cannibalistic demons^[15], in the assembly of the wicked^[16], from the danger of forest-dwelling^[17], from the missiles of great warriors in every battle^[18] and the missile of the son of Droṇa (Aśvatthāman).

25.^[19] Oh Master of the Universe! May there always be calamity at every step (if in every such calamity we are blest with) your sight which relieves people from the cycle of rebirths.

26. Verily a man puffed up with pride of noble birth, power, learning and wealth never deserves to speak of (i.e. remember) you who are worthy of being known by desireless persons or Paramahaṃsas.

27. Salutations to you, who regard your sincere devotees as your wealth^[20] and from whom tendencies towards attributes (guṇas) viz. the objectives of Dharma, Artha and Kāma have disappeared; I bow to you who delight in His your Self and devoid of attachment and who is the Lord of (one who can grant the Final Beatitude.

28.^[21] I look upon you as Time (or Death), the Controller of the Universe, beginningless and endless. Although quarrels (wars) among beings arise from you (as the efficient cause), you move with equality (and dispense pleasure and pain according to their past actions).

29. Oh Lord! Nobody knows what you intend to do. You appear to behave like men. Nobody is either favourite with you nor any one antagonistic in the least. It is the mind of men which is prejudiced.

30.^[22] Oh soul of the Universe! That you who have no birth and no actions, have incarnations and actions to perform among non-human beings (e.g. the boar-incarnation), human beings (e.g. Rāma, Kṛṣṇa), sages (e.g. Vāmana) and acquatic animals (e.g. the Fish incarnation) is a great imitation (a matter of your will to imitate these).

31. When for a fault committed by you, the cowherdess (Yaśodā) took a rope, the then spectacle of your standing with head bent down, showing expression of fear on your face with eyes full of tears mixed with black collyrium, really enchants me, as even fear is afraid of you.

32. Some (persons) say that you, though unborn, appeared to take birth in the Yadu race for (spreading) the reputation of your dear friend Yudhiṣṭhira of pious fame and that of beloved Yadu, just as the sandal tree (grown on the Malaya) for the (reputation of the) mountain Malaya.

33. Others say that you are the unborn one who, in response to (their) prayer, was born of Vasudeva and Devakī for the good of the world and the destruction of the enemies of gods.

34. Others say that as per prayer of god Brahmā (lit. the self-born god), you were born to lessen the burden of the earth which, like (an overloaded) boat in the sea, suffered from overpressure (of demons and wicked persons).

35. Some others (regard that you are born) for performing deeds worth hearing and remembering by (persons) suffering in this worldly existence on account of nescience,^[23] desires and actions (karmas done previously).

36. Only those persons who constantly hear, sing, glorify, remember and take delight in your likeable deeds, will see before long your lotus-like feet which terminates (dries up) the current of worldly existence.

37. And, Oh Lord (Kṛṣṇa) who fulfill the wishes of your devotees! Do you today abandon us, your friends and dependants, who have brought so much grief to the princely class and have no other refuge than the lotus-like feet of your honour?

38.^[24] If Your honour is out of sight, what are we Pāṇḍavas and Yadus but (merely) name and form, just as the senseorgans are worthless (dead) in the absence of the Soul (lit. controller of the sense-organs).

39. Or holder of the mace (Kṛṣṇa)! The land (in our kingdom) will not appear beautiful (after your departure) just as now it appears decorated by your feet imprinting on the ground your special (divine) marks.

40. It is by your (favourable) looks that these lands with well-ripened plants and creepers, with their forests, mountains, rivers and seas, prosper (richly).

41. Therefore, Oh Lord of the Universe! the Universal Soul! All-pervading Lord! Gut asunder my bond of love to my kinsmen—this strong attachment towards Pāṇḍavas and Vṛṣṇis.

42. Oh Lord of Madhus (= Yādavas)! May my mind be constant and firm in devotion to you and be not attached to any other object just as the stream of the Ganges flows into the sea (alone without minding any obstacles).

43. Oh Śrī Kṛṣṇa, friend of Arjuna, the best of the Vṛṣṇis, Fire (destroyer) of the prowess of the kings who harassed the earth, of undiminished power and might, Possessor of the wealth of wish-yielding cows (Govinda), one who incarnates for removing the afflictions of cows, twice-born ones (Brāhmaṇas) and gods, Oh Lord of Yogas, the Preceptor of all, Oh Venerable Lord, I bow to you.

Sūta said:

44. Vaikuṇṭha (Kṛṣṇa) whose entire glory was thus eulogized in sweet words by Pṛthā (Kuntī), smiled gently as if enchanting the world by his Māyā.^[25]

45. Having blessed her (Kuntī) that her desires would be fulfilled^[26] and entering Hastināpura, he took leave of the ladies and was about to leave for his capital when he was detained by the king, out of love.

46. Even though he (Yudhiṣṭhira) was advised with illustrations from historical incidents by Vyāsa and others who did not comprehend the intention of the Lord (that it was Bhīṣma who was to enlighten Yudhiṣṭhira and not they) and by Kṛṣṇa (himself) of miraculous deeds, he (Yudhiṣṭhira) did not understand it (as) he was overcome with grief.

47. Oh Brāhmaṇas, the king Yudhiṣṭhira (son of Yama- dharma) brooding over the death of his friends (and well- wishers) and with his mind becoming defunct in judgment like that of common people, spoke as follows.

48. Alas! Look at the ignorance grown in the heart of a wicked man like me. For the sake of my body which is for others (for being devoured by carnivorous animals like dogs, jackals etc.) many divisions^[27] (of the army) are killed.

49. Even for crores of years there is no hope of my release from hell as I have done wrong to children (like Abhimanyu, Lakṣmaṇa), Brāhmaṇas (like Droṇa), relatives, friends, elders, brothers and preceptors.

50. The precept that killing enemies in a righteous war is not a sin in the case of a king protecting his subjects, cannot convince (enlighten) me (as I was not a ruler of the people).

51. Here the sin accrued to me by the wrong done to women whose relatives were slain for my sake, cannot be expiated by me by (religious) acts prescribed for householders.

52. Just as one cannot purify muddy water by mud or the sin of drinking wine by means of (profuse) wine, similarly one cannot expiate a single act of killing a living being by (performing) a number of sacrifices (involving the deliberate slaughter of animals).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Padaratnāvalī’s text gives the following additional verses, the gist of which is as follows:

All the Pāṇḍavas along with Draupadī were deeply grieved at the death of their sons. They performed the prescribed funeral rites of their kinsmen.

Then the Lord showed to Draupadī the various warriors slain, as promised by him formerly when she fell at his feet weeping.

‘Oh queen! See the wives of your enemies who with hair dishevelled, are lamenting, embracing their husbands whose thighs or chests are broken with the mace of Bhīma’.

[2]:

Dhṛtarāṣṭra—Eldest son of Vicitravīrya or rather Vyāsa and Ambikā. He married Gāndhārī and had one hundred sons the eldest of whom was Duryodhana. He was blind and hence his younger brother Pāṇḍu superseded him to the throne. The Mahābhārata war was fought between the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Pāṇḍu. After the war, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, bereaved of his sons, stayed for some time with the Pāṇḍavas and then resorted to forest along with Gāndhārī and Kuntī where they were burnt in a forest conflagration—DHM. 91.

[3]:

Gāndhārī—Daughter of Subala, king of Gāndhāra, wife of Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

[4]:

Kuntī (Pṛthā)—Daughter of the Yādava Prince Śūra, sister of Vasudeva; given as a child to Śūra’s childless cousin Kuntibhoja. Pleased with her services in her maidenhood, Durvāsas gave her a charm, whereby she could invoke any god. She used the incantation to invoke the Sun-God and she gave birth to Karṇa without loss of her virginity. Later, she married Pāṇḍu and bore him three sons—Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma and Arjuna who were respectively from the gods Yamadharma, Vāyu and Indra.

During the forest-dwelling of Pāṇḍavas, she stayed at Hastināpura. After the Bhārata war, she retired into the forest along with Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Gāndhārī and all of them perished in a forest-fire. HDM 171.

[5]:

ajātaśatruḥ [ajātaśatru]—Normally it means ‘One having no enemy;’ but Padaratnāvalī and Bhāvārtha-dīpikā-prakāśa interpret ajāta as Duryodhana as he was born from a pitcher and not in the normal way. In support of this they quote from Mbh. 1.114 wherein the birth of the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra is described. These annotators interpret this as ‘one whose enemy is Suyodhana (Duryodhana)’

[6]:

uttama-kalpakai [kalpakaiḥ]—(i) With faultless detailed formalities of recitation of Mantras, gifts to Brāhmaṇas at the appropriate stages of the sacrifice—Bhāgavata Candrikā

(ii) With the best method of performing religious rites—Padaratnāvalī

(iii) With the best materials—Subodhinī. Bhāvārtha-dīpikā-prakāśa

(iv) With the best performers of sacrifices like Vyāsa and others—Bhāvārtha-dīpikā-prakāśa

[7]:

The daughter of Matsya King Virāṭa and queen of Abhimanyu. Mother of Parīkṣit. When Aśvatthāman discharged the Brahmāstra against the child in her womb, she invoked Kṛṣṇa’s help who protected her by his Suḍarśana discus and saved Parīkṣit—Purāṇa Index. 1.219.

[8]:

Tatra... parasparam—Where men are the death of one-another Bhāvāratha Dīpikā

[9]:

Some more interpretations:

Bhāvāratha Dīpikā: How can we, women, know you that are incarnated (on this earth) to teach the Paramahaṃsas (recluses of the highest order) the Bhakti Yoga (path of devotion) and to attract the minds of the (meditative) sages of devotion and to teach them (how to follow) the path of devotion.

Bhāgavata Candrikā: How can we women (ineligible for performing yoga and of impure mind) know you? You reveal yourself to the intense devotion of recluses of the highest order, pure in mind and given to meditation of yourself.

[10]:

Padaratnāvalī gives rather unusual derivations of some of the epithets used here, e.g. Vāsudeva—One who shines after pervading the world. Govinda—One who is attained to by Vedas. Nandagopa-Kumāra—One who cured the leprosy of a king called Nanda.

[11]:

The controller of the sense-organs, i.e. Kṛṣṇa.

[12]:

Kaṃsa—A tyrannical king of Mathurā, son of Ugrasena and cousin of Devakī. He married two daughters of Jarāsandha, king of Magadha. He deposed his father. Due to a prediction that the eighth child of Devakī will kill him, he imprisoned both Devakī and Vasudeva. He tried to kill all the children of Devakī but Kṛṣṇa, the eighth child was smuggled away and was kept under the protection of Nanda, the cowherd chief. Kaṃsa became a great persecutor of Kṛṣṇa and tried to kill him but was eventually killed by Kṛṣṇa—DHM. 149.

[13]:

viṣāt—Refers to administration of poison-food to Bhīma by Duryodhana and throwing him in the Gaṅgā after fastening down with creepers (Mbh. 1.127.45-54).

[14]:

mahāgneḥ [mahāgni]—This refers to Duryodhana’s attempt to burn down Kuntī and Pāṇḍavas in the house of lac at Vāraṇāvata (Mbh. 1.147).

[15]:

This refers to the encounter of Pāṇḍavas with demons like Hidimba (Mbh. I.153), Baka (Mbh. I.162 etc).

[16]:

This refers to the assembly of dice-players in which Draupadī was humiliated (Mbh. II.67-68).

[17]:

Refers to the different hazards which Pāṇḍavas faced during their stay in the forest for twelve years.

[18]:

Refers to the Bhārata war in which Pāṇḍavas had to face a number of enemy missiles.

[19]:

Padaratnāvalī differs:—‘Oh Lord of the Universe! May there be continuous difficulties in our various worldly dealings. In these, however, we should have a sight of you which shows the way to Liberation (Mokṣa).

[20]:

akiñcana-vittāya—akiñcana is one who wishes to get nothing else but Śrī Kṛṣṇa; hence ‘a sincere devotee’. This compound means:

(i) Who are the wealth to his sincere devotees;

(ii) One who loves his sincere devotees.

[21]:

Another interpretation:

I regard you as Time-bodied one who control god Braḥmā and others and hence who are free from birth and death. Quarrels among beings arise due to Time though you move with equality (the charges of inequality and mercilessness cannot be levelled against you).—Bhāgavata Candrikā

Siddhāntapradīpa: It is due to ignorance that persons bear a prejudiced attitude to you even though you are really devoid of favouritism or antagonism. Subodhinī endorses the same interpretation with ḥis usual details.

[22]:

Another interpretation:

You are the birthless (due to absence of actions leading to birth) and the actionless (due to disinclination to do any action on account of non-existence of actions motivating new actions) soul of the universe. That you should have births in (and indulge in actions suitable to) non- human beings, human beings, sages and acquatic animals is extremely deceptive.

[23]:

avidyā—(i) Ignorance about the nature of the highest joy—Bhāvāratha Dīpikā

(ii) Ignorance caused by the confusion between the Soul and the body—Bhāgavata Candrikā

(iii) Absence of the knowledge of the Soul and the non-Soul—Siddhāntapradīpa

[24]:

Another interpretation:

(i) When we have visualised you as when the sense-organs find their controller (the Soul), we have become through your grace, Yādavas and Pāṇḍavas—Bhāgavata Candrikā

(ii) The sense-organs function when the controlling agency—the Soul—is with them. The existence of our name and form is due to your presence with us. Otherwise we shall be reduced to nameless and formless category.

[25]:

Māyā: (i) Bhāvāratha Dīpikā quotes Māyā is the smile (of the world) which maddens the world.

(ii) Divine Love—VC.

[26]:

After accepting Kuntī’s prayer (regarding her constancy in devotion etc.)—Bhāvāratha Dīpikā

[27]:

Akṣauhiṇī—A division of the army consisting of 21870 chariots, as many elephants, 65610 horses and 109350 foot-soldiers: Total—218700.